It's Time. EE Enigma 20 vs Katabatic Palisade. Which one?

I need advice, especially from people that have experience with BOTH modern versions. The main issue (assumption) with the Katabatic is the down migration overnight as I rotisserie sleep. Anytime I might need the Katabatic neck baffle, i’ll be using the hood from my puffy, so that’s not explicitly useful, right? Do the Katabatic pad cords ever slip or pop out? Is the EE draw cord in the middle  of your face annoying? The EE vertical baffles and price look awesome to me. I’m 6’1″, 215lbs, elbow girth of 52 inches, active sleeper, I get the wide in each yes? Thank you.

Never used the Katabatic, but as a 5’8″ side sleeper, I’ve been happy with the 2016 EE Enigma 20 wide regular length with 850 treated down. My shoulder girth (torso plus upper arms) is 49″, and the wide width allows enough room to snug the Enigma sides fairly tight under the body (within 6 inches of meeting) without restricting the loft on top. Email EE with your measurements and sleep habits and they will give you a good idea on width and length.

YMMV, but the vertical baffles reduce down moving toward the edges at night – a constant challenge with my previous mummy bags (even with narrower baffles). The down still shifts on the Enigma (away from the torso and toward the feet), but it happens slower than the shifting experienced with previous bags.

Unless things have changed since last year, the Enigma draw chord is centered, and it does fall on the face at times, but it’s only a minor issue IMHO. The pad straps work well on a Neoair Xlite, however I modified one of strap so that now both wrap all the way around the pad. The only gripe with the straps is that I find them difficult to unsnap when wearing gloves (light liner gloves).

EE did change their foot box for 2017, so the following may not be applicable any more. One minor issue is that the footbox on the 2016 wide quilt is a little roomier than what I would prefer, which allows for more cold spots in the footbox. This is likely due to the wide size. It would be ideal to have a wide width around the torso but a normal width in the foot box. Katabatic owners will know more, but I believe the Palisade has a stronger taper in width from the torso to the feet, which may provide a narrower foot box for size wide quilt.

Matthew – I cannot help with comparison info as I have never used a Palisade, but…

You and I are nearly identical in size. I have a 30* Rev and a 10* Enigma (old footbox design), both are Reg/Wide and they are perfect for me…LOVE them.  I am predominantly a side sleeper (xLite large pad) who moves around some, but don’t think I could be called a “rotisserie” sleeper. I have never seen the need for the straps as once the neck opening is closed down the sides of the quilt naturally tuck under…this also seems to work (for me) when side sleeping. I also supplement by wearing my puffy and that works very well.  The neck cinch cord placement is a non-issue as it is pulled inside the quilt…my face is outside the quilt.  This seems to only be an issue for those who like to burrow down inside the quilt.

Absolutely zero issues with down migration during the night in either quilt. I do like that you can move down toward the neck or foot as needed.  I also supplement with down socks which allows me to move a little down up toward the torso area on those really cold nights.

Good luck with your search.

Highly satisfied Katabatic quilt owner here and I’ve used the 2016 style Enigma a couple nights (my girlfriend and I switched bags). I use an EE synthetic quilt over my Alsek for winter.

For me, the attachment system on Katabatic is well thought out, simple to use (once you get used to it – it is a bit fiddly to start out), and effective. The EE system works well, and if I didn’t have a Katabatic quilt I would be a proud Enigma owner, but having the experience of both, Katabatic is my prefered.

Unless you violently rotate when you sleep, the clips shouldn’t come undone during the night – you can always put them into the second “locked” position and they will most certainly not pop out.

I toss and turn a lot in the night, and I sleep on my side. To date (maybe 60 nights), I’ve yet to feel the down migrate substantially overnight.

The neck baffle on Katabatic quilts – yes it’s warm and would be redundant if you wear a puffy, but I feel that it functions best as a way to completely seal off potential drafts. It’s plush and super comfortable and you’ll be thankful for it those nights you don’t wear your puffy.

FWIW, I’m 6′, 170 pounds and have a regular/regular, which is almost the perfect size – the quilt comes to just under my nose. If I had the choice again, I’d probably go with a wide. Sometimes I wish I had just a little more room when the quilt is in super lock down and I start my rotisserie motion for the evening.

Both katabatic and EE quilts have the cords in the middle, so its an issue either way. But here you go! ->

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/incessantly-annoying-quilt-drawstring-in-face-problem-possible-solution/

And here is another thread for ya ->

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/incessantly-annoying-pillow-off-my-pad-problem-with-solution/

Oh and for what its worth, after trying both, I ended up with deciding on the weight savings for a 950 2017 engima overthe katabatic versions.